Echoes of Time
by pbandfluff
Summary: A Post-JE fix with a continuing plotline. Blame the TARDIS. She's the smartest one, after all...
1. Epiphany

Title: Epiphany  
Author: eriknannie4evr  
Rating: PG  
Word Count: 657  
Prompt: #5 Tattoo  
Disclaimer: Don't own it. Nope.  
Summary: TARDIS always knew the right thing to do...  
A/N: Summary sucks, but hey, what's new?

The TARDIS had set him down in England, somewhere around her time. He hoped against some sick hope that he would open the door and see her walking his way, perfectly intact, perfectly Donna. She had become a tattoo on his mind, always there when he closed his eyes.

His hearts sank when all he was greeted by was a eerie silence in the morning light. He ambled around the small town. Was it called Hornsea or Withernsea? He couldn't remember. He seemed to be doing that a lot, forgetting.

The sea suddenly appeared before him and he slowly trudged towards the shore. Looking up, he began to name off the stars by rote. He had made it to Cassiopeia before he realized he was not alone. Glancing over, his hearts stopped as he openly stared.

Soft red hair blew in the breeze as a young woman quietly sketched the rising sun. She looked up and tender brown eyes scrutinized the horizon. She quickly went back to her work once the image had been imprinted.

A small beeping startled both of them and she quickly reached over and shut off the alarm. The Doctor knew she would surely see him once she stood up, but he couldn't find the strength to move away.

She was so familiar, like a ghost of a pleasant dream. He instantly thought of Donna with her red hair and smiling eyes. The similarities between the two set his mind to working, her appearance triggering his long unused instinct.

His thoughts were cut short though as he was suddenly face to face with the red headed stranger. She stared at him and he at her. As he moved to let her pass, he lost his balance and would have gone face-first into the sand had it not been for a small but nimble hand darting out to grab his arm.

"Are you alright?"

His heart clenched painfully, even her voice sounded like Donna's. He nodded and rose, dusting imaginary sand off his blazer. She was still staring at him, waiting for him to say something. He quickly stuck his hand out.

"I'm the Doctor."

She took his hand.

"Della."

Who was this doppelganger, this echo of his precious Donna? This girl who could have passed as family, as a child. Children. His whole existence ached with the thought that there would be no little boy or girl to run around the TARDIS, no one with her red hair and bright smile.

No, he would have none of those things now. Not now that his presence could mean her ultimate destruction. Sometimes he damned the metacrisis that saved the universe, damned the conscious in her mind, damned his own foolishness at keeping the hand out in the open. Perhaps it was a little more than sometimes.

"Are you lost?"

He snapped back to reality so fast he thought he could hear his brain shake. She was still there, still staring. Her image burned his hearts now, the parallels between her and his dashed dreams too much to take. He shook his head and turned around to follow the path he came. He left her there, left the lost child of the TARDIS in the sand, her image buried in his mind.

The child of his mind.

Child.

Mind.

The thought swept over him like a fire, bringing his body to a standstill. He had just found a way to reverse the metacrisis. A child.

Their child.

He turned to thank the unknown girl for her inspiration but found the beach empty. In fact, the only sign of activity was his own footsteps in the sand.

As he ran to the TARDIS to set in coordinates to Chiswick, he thought he would have to thank the TARDIS for sending him here. Even if she had broken the rules. But then again he had never thought much of banning contact with the future.


	2. Revelations

Title: Revelations  
Order: Sequel to Epiphany  
Author: eriknannie4evr  
Rating: PG  
Word Count: 1036  
Summary: Donna Noble has a choice...

She had just settled down with a book when she heard the commotion.

_More of Wilf's friends_ she thought.

She snuggled down farther into her blanket and focused on the words in front of her.

Death in the Clouds had become her favorite book recently, although she somehow felt there was an important reason behind it. She just couldn't put her finger on it...

Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on her door. She felt her mood taking a darker turn, she had specifically told her mother and Wilf that she was not to be disturbed.

Huffing, she threw back her covers and shuffled to the door. Flinging it open, she expected to rip her mother a new one but was pleasantly surprised to see a man standing in the doorway. What was his name? John Something? No, that wasn't right. But somehow she remembered calling him John, even though it seemed wrong.

"Can I help you with something?"

She really wasn't in the mood to fool around tonight. He, apparently, was. While she stood waiting for him to answer, he stood there gaping like he had never seen a woman before. Bad move on his part.

"Oi! Anyone there? You lost?"

The last statement seemed to snap him out of whatever fog he had been in because suddenly he was talking mile a minute. The few words she could make out and understand gave her the impression that this John someone had discovered some way to reverse something... She wasn't too sure. What she was suddenly sure of was this man's hands on her temples.

"Oi! Are you mad? What d'you-"

Suddenly it seemed as if the whole world was being ripped apart and shoved into her head. Her eyes screwed shut at the sudden, incessant stream of images flashing across her mind. The Doctor, the TARDIS, Pompeii, the Daleks, Shan Shen, the Doctor, Rose, Martha, Jenny, the Doctor, Agatha Christie, Midnight, the Doctor, Jack Harkness, the Doctor.

The Doctor!

Her eyes flew open and connected with his. He was here, with her, and she could remember! Oh, how she had missed him without knowing it. She reached out and gently stroked his cheek. He caught her hand and brought it to his lips, gently kissing her knuckles. The jolt of electricity that seemed to emanate from where his lips brushed against her skin sent her reeling. How had she lived without him?

"You came back."

It wasn't accusing, just a statement of facts. He nodded and pulled her to him, encasing her in one of their hugs. She sighed into his chest, she felt whole again.

"Donna?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you know why I came back?"

She looked up at him, looked into his eyes for the truth. Her mind was suddenly filled with images of a beach and a girl with red hair and him running frantically around. As the images receded she was left with a single thought. He could solve the metacrisis.

She gasped, her hand flying to cover her mouth. The metacrisis, how could she forget? It was the reason he left her in the first place. And now, now he knew how to fix it!

"How?"

"Donna, I don't know-"

"How do you fix it?"

"Donna you don't-"

"I don't care. How. Do. You. Fix. It?"

She watched him take in a deep breath and steel himself.

"A child."

She waited for him to continue. He waited for her to answer.

"That's it? We just have to find this kid and I can be DoctorDonna forever? That's not too hard."

She saw his eyes tighten and a look of desperation cross over his face. She didn't understand, why was this hurting him so?

"Doctor, what's-"

"Our child Donna. It has to be our child."

"Wha-"

Her eyes widened. As understanding washed over her she could see pain and guilt wash over him. A child would save her from the metacrisis. Would let her stay with him forever. But a child?!

"Donna."

She looked up at him as he gently grasped her arms.

"You don't have to do this Donna. I just..."

He paused, and she could see the struggle in his eyes. He closed them tightly, and his grip tightened as well.

"I couldn't live the rest of my life without knowing that I tried everything to get you back, searched every corner of the universe until I could find a way to stop the metacrisis."

He looked at her then, trying to convey everything in one look. She tried to understand, but was too overwhelmed to make sense of it. He saw this, and pulled her in once again.

"I love you Donna. I love you so much I think I'm going crazy sometimes."

Her heart clenched in her chest. How long she had waited to hear those words from him. How long she had waited to be able to say them back and not fear rejection or humiliation. She pulled away slightly and looked up at him shyly.

"Really?"

He grinned then, and pulled her back to his chest.

"Yes Donna Noble, I really love you."

She smiled into his shoulder.

"Love you too Spaceman."

The breath had not even fully left her lungs before the pain hit. Searing and blinding hot, it pervaded all her senses and left her doubled over, only held up by his strong arms. Now she remembered why the metacrisis was so important.

"Are you alright?"

She smiled tightly up at him as the pain subsided. He led her to the bed and she sat gingerly on the edge. Taking her hand with one of his, he used the other one to rub small circles over her back.

"You have a choice to make Donna. An important one."

He dropped his hand from her back.

"But whatever your choice is, it needs to be made quickly. You won't have much more time before the metacrisis causes damage."

She looked at him, with his boyish face and endearing eyes, brilliant smile and incredible mind, and knew her choice.


	3. Recognition

She lay with him later that night, propped up against the headboard. He lay on her shoulder, snoring softly.

_What a shame_, she thought, _that we wasted so much time._

She smiled to herself.

_But now we have all the time in the world._

He rolled slightly, his hand reaching across to rest around her waist. She laid her hand over his, wondering if she was safe. Wondering and worrying about what would happen if she were safe.

"_You're so beautiful Donna, so beautiful," he whispered as he hovered above her._

She blushed at the memory, remembering how adamant he was on that point.

_Beautiful,_ she scoffed, _I'm not beautiful._

But oh how he had made her feel beautiful. She had never had a lover that was so attentive, so careful. That treated her like she was a precious treasure to be cared for. It was slightly frightening to see such love and devotion in his eyes when she was so used to only seeing lust from a man. He stirred then, and woke blearily.

"Morning?" he asked.

She shook her head and nodded towards the alarm clock. It only read 2:30.

He nodded and lay back down as if to go back to bed. He sat up suddenly and turned to her.

"Do you feel okay, I mean, are you hurting?"

She shook her head again and lay down herself to go to sleep. But he reached for her temples before she could completely lie down. She caught his hand and gave him a questioning look.

"I can see if it worked or not."

The statement hung in the air between them. She lowered her hands and nodded slowly. He placed his hands on her temples and she closed her eyes. She felt nothing this time, no pressure or images at all. She was startled out of her thoughts by a searing kiss. She reached up to cradle his face and broke apart slightly.

"Wha-?"

"She's beautiful Donna," he almost crooned, tears forming in his eyes, "So beautiful."

"You saw her?" she asked, her voice low and trembling.

He nodded, brushing her hair away from her face.

"She's strong and brilliant and full of lip just like her mum."

He beamed at her, knocking the breath out of her lungs.

"She's perfect."


	4. Introduction

"Tell me why we're doing this again?"

He stopped short, nearly taking her down in the process. His hands shot out immediately even though she had already gotten her balance back.

"You don't have to, Donna," he tried to explain, "This is something I want to do."

"Whither thou goest, I will go," she quipped as they walked down the street.

The Doctor rolled his eyes, "As if you would ever be so subservient…"

She beamed back at him, he knew her so well. They kept walking towards Millennium Center, enjoying the quiet of the morning.

She turned to him, "What exactly are you going to do once we get there?"

He flashed her a mischievous grin and waggled his eyebrows.

She put up a hand, "Wait, don't tell me. I really don't want to know."

He laughed and wrapped an arm around her as they walked. There was a silence before he spoke.

"I want to try and give him hope Donna."

She looked confused, "Who?"

He stopped and she with him.

"Jack. I want to try and give Jack hope."

They started walking again and this time it was she that broke the silence.

"How can you give him hope?"

The Doctor smiled, "By telling him about you."

He pulled her a little tighter in.

"About us."

He gently kissed her temple.

"About all of us."

He looked out to the horizon, "Jack and I are very similar, Donna. He lives forever, I live, well, I might as well live forever. We both have the privilege of seeing the entire galaxy and the torture of seeing people we care about pass on. I never thought I'd have a family again. Neither of us did. Maybe this can help him somehow."

He shrugged, "But you never know with Jack."

They continued their walk until he motioned her onto the invisible entrance. They stood hand in hand as they descended into the Hub.


	5. Interruption

When Gwen arrived at Torchwood that particular morning, she wasn't quite sure what would await her. She had argued with Rhys again, but had managed to brew a cuppa before she took off. As she was "clocking in" with Tosh and Owen, she heard a rather small commotion coming from the Jack's office. She shot a questioning look at Owen who just shook his head and stalked off mumbling. Tosh was no help either. Ianto seemed eerily calm and all knowing and it threw Gwen off that he would know when the other two didn't. Well, she wasn't about to let Jack Harkness have all the fun! She slowly made the walk around the hub to his office only to hear laughter. Her eyebrows shot up. Laughter? From Jack's office? Now she was intrigued. She stuck her head in the doorway to find a rather charming ginger woman and a rather spastic brunette man chatting it up with her Jack. No! Not her Jack, just Jack-

"Gwen!"

She jumped, knocking her jaw against the doorframe. As she rubbed it, Jack came over and ushered her into the room.

"Perfect timing Gwen, we were just talking about you."

He draped his arm around her shoulder, "This is Gwen Cooper. The one I was telling you about."

The shit-eating grin on Jack's face set off all the alarms in Gwen's head.

"Told them what? I swear to God Jack, if you've been spreading lies-"

"Relax, I just told them about how we met."

Gwen rolled her eyes, "Yeah, in the bloody rain."

There was a small lull in the conversation that snapped Jack into action.

"My apologies Gwen, this is the Doctor."

The brunette man extended his arm with a smile. Gwen took it and shot a smile back.

"And this," said Jack, moving to wrap his arm around the woman, "Is the brilliant Donna Noble."

Donna sighed, "Would everyone just stop saying that, I-"

As she was talking, Jack's hand had begun to slowly inch downward.

She batted his hand away, "Watch it, I'm taken!"

Gwen snorted, "Never stopped 'im before."

Jack pantomimed a shot to the heart, "Gwen, I'm wounded! I would never-"

"Yeah, and the Daleks just want some new friends. You can't pull that one on me mistah," Donna retorted, hands on her hips, "He's told me everything."

Jack wiggled his eyebrows, "Everything?"

Gwen quickly held up her hands, "Going to stop this conversation right there. There are some things you just don't want to know about your boss."

Jack whined, "But we were just getting to the good part."

The Doctor cleared his throat quietly.

"Speaking of good parts, there's something we wanted to tell you."

Jack's head swiveled, "Yeeeesssss…"

The Doctor fumbled with his words for a moment before stepping next to Donna. As he slid his arm around her waist, Gwen watched Jack's eyes grow wide with understanding. The sly grin came back to his face full force.

"You sneaky dog, why didn't you tell me you two were together? I would have backed off last time I saw you too."

"Or tried harder," muttered Gwen under her breath.

She thought back to the last time Jack had seen the Doctor and Donna. It still gave her chills to think of the Daleks and their grating voices. Wait a minute, wasn't Donna…

"Didn't you get your memory erased?" she blurted out loudly.

Her cheeks flushed as she realized what she had just said. But Jack didn't seem to have a problem with it.

"Yes, I was wondering how you are here and not all brain fried. What happened?"

The couple looked at each other and tried to explain, "Well you see-"

"I was at home-"

"…at the beach-"

"…reading-"

"…named Della-"

"…at the door-"

"…as fast as I could-"

"Okay, stop!"

Jack rubbed his temples, "You're giving me a headache."

Gwen pointed at the Doctor, "So you met this girl at the beach that gave you the idea to help her."

She then pointed at Donna, "So he went to you and the two of you figured out how to reverse… eh, whatever it was?"

Donna shrugged, "Pretty much."

Gwen glared at Jack, "See, if you would just pay attention you might understand something every now and then."

Jack smiled, "But then what would you do?"

Gwen was half way to punching his arm when Owen darted in.

"Major Rift activity. Gonna need backup."

Jack and Gwen ran to grab up their coats and were almost to the door when the Doctor piped up.

"You need help?"

The Torchwood team froze, all eyes on Jack. He paused, scrutinizing the Doctor and Donna. He nodded slightly and tossed Donna some keys.

"Drive for us will you? I don't trust him."

The Doctor's cry of protest was heard echoing through the Hub as they took off to the disturbance.


	6. Investigation 1

Gwen peeked around a corner and pulled back to the group.

"You sure this is the right place? Where did the coordi-"

Owen threw up his hands.

"It's the right place! I checked the bloody coordinates twice!"

Jack looked around the corner as well and studied the building for a while. He leaned over to the Doctor.

"What do you think?"

The Doctor pulled out the sonic screwdriver and scanned the building.

"Dunno. Could be a false reading."

Tosh's head whipped around.

"That equipment is not faulty. If it said there was a rift spike, there was a rift spike."

The Doctor backed into the wall as Tosh glared.

"I didn't mean that…I wasn't saying…It's not you…The machines…"

"Oi, Spaceman! You coming inside or what?"

The Doctor froze and bolted to Donna. Grabbing her arm, he tried to drag her away.

"Are you mad? We don't know-"

"-what's in there? Oh, come off it. It's a library! What creature hides in a library? Now come on!"

She put her hand over his and proceeded to drag him into the library, much to the amusement of Torchwood. They followed, their eyes open and guns ready. They got inside and looked around. Gwen leaned over to Jack.

"Must not carry Twilight."

Jack snorted and smiled. The library was empty. There were no persons to be seen reading, nor was there someone at the circulation desk.

"Spread out. Stay alert."

Torchwood nodded and started off in different directions. The Doctor and Donna took a better look at the main lobby. It wasn't impressive by any means, and was rather dimly lit. The Doctor went to check behind the circulation desk and Donna headed towards the back. She had found during her tenure as a librarian that the back of the library was prime haunting grounds for employees and patrons alike.

"You see anything?"

She shook her head no and turned to see the Doctor headed her way. Waiting until he caught up, they continued to search. Pulling out the sonic, the Doctor began to head down a hall of what looked to be offices. Donna took a step to follow and then froze. She couldn't explain it, but she thought she could feel someone close by. Turning, she quickly scanned the library and once again found no one. Staying alert, she once again went to follow the Doctor, but suddenly noticed a thin bar of light on the ground. Confused, she followed it up to find that it came from a door that had been left slightly ajar. She wondered why she hadn't noticed it the first go round, it was in plain sight of the lobby. Taking a few steps toward it, she listened intently to see if someone was inside. She couldn't hear anything, but, she reasoned, the door was rather thick and could easily block sound. Curiosity getting the better of her, she grabbed the handle and pulled gently. The door swung open silently, and she peered inside.


	7. Investigation 2

"You've got to be kidding me!"

Donna glared at the room, feeling her anger rise steadily.

"Something wrong?"

If she hadn't been so angry, she would have screamed at the surprise. As it was, she settled for a good slap to the Doctor's head.

"Bloody hell, what was that for?"

Donna threw out her pointed hand to the room. The Doctor looked inside, giving the room a once over.

"What?"

Donna huffed and dragged him into the room. She once again pointed and the Doctor saw it this time.

"How'd that get here?"

He bent to pick up a mobile, no, not just **a** mobile, **his** mobile. Which he could have sworn was in his pocket. He looked at Donna and dug around in his pocket for a while. She just glared at him, arms crossed at the chest and foot tapping impatiently. He gave a cry of triumph and pull out his mobile showing the two to Donna. Her face flickered to confusion as she stared at the mobiles.

"If that's yours, then…"

"Whose is this? I'd like to know. Aren't a lot of sonicked mobiles floating around."

He grinned as he tossed the doppelganger in his hand. Donna rolled her eyes and grabbed the mobile. He tried to grab it back, but she shooed him off as she began punching buttons.

"What are you doing?"

"Checking the last call made. That might be what tripped the rift."

The Doctor blinked, he hadn't thought about that possibility. In fact, come to think of it, he had never actually made a call on Earth from his mobile before. He came out of his musings to find Donna holding the mobile in his face. He squinted to read the bright screen. Home. He took the mobile and checked the number. He didn't recognize it.

"Don't recognize the number. But the area code's for Chiswick. See? Funny that someone in Cardiff would have a Chiswick number as home."

Donna read over the number, making a small noise of agreement.

"Can I help you?"

The Doctor and Donna spun around to find an older woman looking the part of the stereotypical librarian standing in the doorway. Donna grabbed the mobile from the Doctor and walked to the doorway.

"We heard this going off but no one was here. The door was open, so we tried to answer it. But it went to voicemail. Is it yours?"

The woman looked at it and sighed.

"No. It's my assistant's. I'm always telling that girl to make sure she takes it with her. She's always in a hurry. But I'm leaving tomorrow for Glasgow. She'll have to wait to get it."

The Doctor came up behind Donna.

"We could give it to her. We've got plenty of time."

The woman shook her head.

"No, I'll keep it here. She's very protective of her mobile. I just hope she doesn't need it for an emergency."

The woman took the mobile from Donna and walked out towards the circulation desk. She paused halfway and turned.

"Could you take this to her? I mean, do you really have enough time? I'm just worried she'll need it."

Donna smiled and went to the woman.

"Of course we can. It's no trouble. Where can we find her?"

The woman took a post it from the desk and scribbled down an address. She handed it and the mobile to Donna.

"This is where she stays. If they say she's not there, try the bay by Norwegian Church. She might be in the coffee shop. Tell her Miriam sent you."

Donna nodded. She motioned to the Doctor who caught up with her. They walked out of the library to find the Torchwood team already outside. Jack sidled up with a grin.

"Trying out the stacks?"

Donna's jaw tensed, but she only handed Jack the mobile. He stared at it, then at her.

"Sorry, already got one."

The Doctor pulled out his mobile and held it next to the copy. Jack looked at the two while Tosh started scanning. Gwen looked at the mobiles for a while then pointed at Jack's.

"This one's older."

She's touched the keypad lightly.

"There's a crack in the front panel and the screen's been replaced."  
Tosh nodded.

"The readings off the copy are more complex. There's more technology in that one."

She paused, her brow furrowing.

"I've seen this signature before."

The Doctor looked surprised.

"Really?"

"Yes. It's been a constant for the rift since I started predicting spikes. I had assumed it had always been there."

Jack crossed his arms and looked at the Doctor.

"When does it occur?"

Tosh quickly typed in a command and pulled up readings.

"Every month on this date there's a slight spike in rift readings that lasts for less than a minute."

She pointed to one point on the screen.

"This one was amplified by a stray feedback wave. Gave a hollow reading."

Jack sighed.

"Great. So it was nothing."

"No, it was."

Jack turned to Donna with a smile.

"Really?"

She rolled her eyes and showed him the post it.

"This is the address of the owner of the phone according the librarian. She also told us where we could find her if she wasn't at home."

Jack took the post it and smiled.

"Off we go."


	8. Conversation

"Tell me again why we stopped to get food?"

Jack leaned over and tried to swipe a chip from Donna. She slapped his hand away and moved the potatoes closer to herself.

"Because I haven't eaten since 7 and it's almost 2. I'm hungry, the Doctor's hungry, even your own team is hungry! Just untwist your knickers and wait a little."

Jack slumped back against the picnic bench he was on. He once again tried to steal a chip from Donna and got a slap on the head instead of the hand. His team chuckled as he retreated to Ianto and stole some of his chips. Ianto merely smiled and nodded towards Donna.

"Been like that long?"

The Doctor looked over at Ianto in alarm.

"Like what?"

Ianto smiled.

"The hunger and possessiveness. Been like that long?"

The Doctor looked at Donna who stared back at him.

"What? I got something on my face?"

The Doctor turned back to Ianto.

"No. Just started. Then again, it hasn't been that long. I expected it, but not nearly this early."

Gwen and Tosh looked at each other then the Doctor and Ianto. Gwen leaned to Tosh.

"What are they going on about?"

Tosh shrugged and Gwen leaned back to her seat. After taking a moment, Owen barked out a laugh and nudged Tosh.

"I know what they're going on about."

Tosh turned to him with expectant eyes. He waved his finger at her.

"Nuh-uh. Not until I get chips."

Tosh rolled her eyes and sighed as she passed the basket to Owen who took his fill. As he sat back he smirked at Gwen and Tosh's eager faces.

"What would make a woman crazy for food and short with her temper?"

Before either woman could reply, Owen raised his hand to stop them.

"Let me rephrase. What would make a woman crazy for food and short with her temper that I would be comfortable talking about? Doctor I may be, but there are some things I just don't do."

As Gwen thought, Tosh's face lit up. She leaned over to Owen and whispered in his ear. He nodded and she giggled slightly. At Gwen's face, she leaned over and whispered in Gwen's ear. Gwen in turned squealed and leaned over to Jack. He pulled himself away from Ianto's chips long enough to listen to Gwen. As she leaned back into her seat, Jack's face split into a grin. He turned to the Doctor and Donna and watched for a while.

The couple was mock fighting over the last of Donna's chips. As the Doctor tried to dart in and take a few, Donna giggled and blocked him. After a while, she picked up a chip and threw it at the Doctor. It hit him in the face and he started at the intrusion. Donna saw her chance and grabbed some of his chips, smiling triumphantly at his cry of disbelief. The Doctor grinned mischievously and moved his hands towards Donna's sides. She pointed her chip in his face and glared in warning. His grin softened and he adjusted to draw her into his arms. She turned so her back was to him and leaned into his embrace. He reached around her and grabbed a chip. Dangling it in front of her, he leaned in and whispered in her ear. She laughed and took the fry using her mouth. As she chewed, the Doctor picked up another one and waited for Donna to finish.

Jack whistled a low catcall, causing the couple to turn and look. They blushed as they realized the whole of Torchwood had been staring at them the whole time. Jack grinned and sat back.

"So when are you due?"

Donna started at the question, then stammered.

"Well I- I guess- Around August I suppose. I really don't…wait a minute, how'd you find out?"

Jack pointed at Gwen, who pointed at Tosh, who in turn pointed at Owen, who rolled his eyes and pointed at Ianto. Ianto simply smiled and ate another chip. Jack rubbed his hands together.

"We'll have to plan a party for you two! Of course a shower for Donna, but maybe a little men's party for the Doctor? Whad'ya say Doctor? One last parting shot?"

While Donna began to fume, the Doctor chuckled and grabbed another chip.

"If you want to plan any party, it won't be in August."

Donna looked at him in bewilderment.

"Why not?"

Her eyes widened as she pulled away slightly.

"Oh God, don't tell me the Gallifreyan gestation period is longer than nine months!"

The Doctor shook his head and tightened his hold on Donna.

"No, it won't be longer. Technically it would be only four months, but because you're human it'll probably end up around six to seven. So end of June, beginning of July would be about right."

Donna gasped as her hands flew to cover the Doctor's where they rested on her stomach. She gazed up at him as her eyes teared up.

"Would it really be at the end of June?"

The Doctor frowned in concern.

"Yeah, about the end of June. Are you okay? Is there something wrong?"

Donna shook her head and choked out a laugh. She averted her eyes in embarrassment.

"No, I'm fine. It was just something silly."

The Doctor cupped her face gently and tilted it so he could look her in the eye.

"It's not silly if it means something to you."

A new wave of tears appeared in Donna's eyes as she covered the Doctor's hand with her own. She began to blubber as the Doctor pulled her in for a hug. He rocked her gently as she sobbed, trying to regain control of her emotions. The Doctor looked up to find Jack ushering the Torchwood team to the cars. He nodded a thank you at Jack for the privacy and got a smile and wink in return. Donna pulled away then, producing a watery smile as he gently wiped away the tears from her face. The Doctor smiled back and placed a kiss on her forehead. Donna smiled fully then as he leaned back in his seat.

"End of June was Daddy's birthday."

The Doctor's face morphed into a grin as he took the information in. He once again cupped Donna's cheek.

"I would be so proud to have my daughter share a birthday with the wonderful man who gave you to me."

As Donna teared up once again, the Doctor leaned down and put his cheek to Donna's still-flat stomach.

"You hear that? You get to share a birthday with a wonderful, wonderful man. And once you're here, your beautiful mum's going to tell you all about him. All the wonderful times they had and how much he would have loved you. So be a good girl and wait until then, okay?"

As the Doctor righted himself, Donna sniffled and slapped him lightly on the arm.

"If you keep this up, Spaceman, I'll be blubbering the whole time!"

The Doctor simply smiled and pulled Donna in once again. She rested her head on his shoulder and could feel his face in her hair.

"I love you Donna. I love you so much."

She smiled and nuzzled his neck.

"I love you too, Doctor."

"Not to be rude, but are you two coming along or should we come around and pick you up later?"

The couple looked up and spotted Jack at the car, door open and waiting for their reply. The Doctor leapt up with a smile and extended his hand to Donna. She took it and rose. Jack smiled as the couple walked towards the cars. He leaned over to Ianto.

"While I hate the fact he's taken, they do make a nice couple."

Ianto smiled and re-plotted the coordinates from the post-it.

"They do. Although, something tells me you won't get to be godfather unless you straighten up."

Jack's face flickered in surprise before he grinned.

"But if I do that, won't you miss me?"

Ianto rolled his eyes as Jack laughed and drove towards their destination.


	9. Crashing

It didn't take long for Jack to realize they were driving almost directly back towards headquarters. Jack commed the second car to verify.

"Donna, you there?"

There a moment of static before the com leveled out.

"Gwen driving here Jack. Something wrong?"

Jack motioned for Ianto to zoom in on the coordinates.

"Uh, yeah, is it just me, or are we headed back towards the Hub?"

There was a moment of silence from the second car.

"Where did the librarian tell us to go?"

Ianto pulled out the post-it and scanned it.

"There's the address we're heading towards and Norwegian Church underneath. They're both relatively close to the Hub."

Another moment of silence through the com.

"Do you think it means anything Jack?"

Jack glanced at Ianto.

"Can't say Gwen. Might just be coincidence. If that's even possible."

Jack switched off the com and settled into driving. From the back, Tosh leaned forward.

"If this girl has been living close to Torchwood, it would explain the readings every month. At that distance, even a small fluctuation would trip the sensors."

Jack nodded in response and sped up the car. Maneuvering smoothly through traffic, the driver and passengers drove silently. Jack checked infrequently to see if Gwen's car was still following behind them. As they finally pulled up to the building, Jack was less then impressed.

"Well, at least it's not a warehouse."

Ianto chuckled.

"Somehow, I think you'd pick a warehouse over this."

As Jack exited the car and took a better look at the building he swore lightly under his breath. Both Ianto and Tosh tried to cover their chuckles as the second car drove up. Jack went over and watched as the other group spilled out of the car. He waited while they read the sign next to the front gate of the building.

"St. Cuthbert's Catholic Church? Honestly?"

Jack simply nodded curtly at Owen's question. He jerked his head for them to follow as he turned to the front door. When he reached out to turn the doorknob, Donna caught his arm gently. At his raised eyebrow, she smiled slightly.

"Mind if I go first Jack?"

Jack smirked as he shook his head. Donna opened the door and held her hand out towards the Doctor. He took it and let her lead him into the church. Gwen stepped forward to follow, but was gently held back by Jack.

"Let them do this alone. We'd just get in the way."

Gwen nodded after a moment and retreated slightly. She and the rest of Torchwood stared at the door of the church, waiting. Close to Jack's car, Tosh remembered she had left her ID in the backseat. Stepping towards it, she heard the sound of wheels whirring. Looking up, she realized she had heard the disaster before she saw it. Trying to move out of the way, she found herself being grabbed by the arms and twirled around. Dizzy from the spin, she could only look down at massive green rollerblades painted like trainers.

"Oh my God, are you alright? Did I hurt you? Do you need to sit down? Oh God, I'm so sorry!"

Inside, Donna was starting to wonder if the librarian hadn't gotten her addresses mixed up. The church was rather small, without anyone to be seen. The Doctor was looking up at the stained glass, one hand in his pocket, the other firmly grasping hers.

"They put the TARDIS in a stained glass once."

Donna turned to him, brow raised.

The Doctor bobbed his head, "Honestly! They did! Bunch of nuns saw me land outside an abbey. Saved them from something or another. Anyway, they put the TARDIS in a stained glass. I'll have to show you sometime."

He turned in place, "You know, there isn't anyone here. Or if there is, they're being very quiet about it. Wonder if the librarian got her addresses mixed up."

Donna looked up sharply.

"Oy! You in my head Spaceman?"

The Doctor shook his head.

"No! No, I'm not! I don't- Donna you know I would never- Not without permission!"

Donna eyed him warily.

"You just repeated what I was thinking. Word for word."

The Doctor looked dumbfounded. Realization bloomed on Donna's face.

She pressed a hand to her stomach, "You don't think…I mean, could she? Already?"

The Doctor motioned for Donna to be silent. He turned his head, listening.

"Do you hear that?"

Donna strained to listen.

She shook her head, "Nothing but the wind."

The Doctor headed towards the door, with Donna following. As they got closer, they started to hear a frantic voice outside. Raising his eyebrow at Donna, the Doctor threw open the doors to the church, only to be smacked by a knit hat. He flinched, bumping into Donna, as Jack laughed.

"Doctor, I'd like you to meet Della."


	10. Remembering

As Donna peered over the Doctor's shoulder, the sight in front of her seemed like one of those overly dramatic scenes in a film. Della, she could only assume it _was_ Della, spun around quickly on her skates. Oh, too quickly.

Donna watched as the skates slipped out from under her and she flailed to stay upright. Falling in that sort of time-bending slow motion, Della landed with a strong "Oof!" on her bum.

Donna knew it was wrong, even knew it was rude, but she couldn't help the chuckles that leaked out as she held on to the Doctor. She could feel his shoulders shaking with suppressed laughter as well. She glanced up at the Torchwood team and found that they weren't making any effort to cover their laughter at all.

Looking back down, she watched the Doctor offer his hand to Della and help her stand.

"You all right there?"

Della nodded at the Doctor as she brushed off and patted down her clothing. The Doctor stuffed his hands in his pockets.

"You fell most impressively, though. Should've gotten an award or something."

Della froze in her attempt to pick up her bag. She dropped her head and began to chuckle.

"I don't know whether to be amused or insulted."

The Doctor rocked back slightly on his heels.

"Amused. Definitely amused. I make it a point not to insult people."

He paused for a moment.

"Well, not right off the bat at least."

Della chuckled again as she rearranged her messenger bag.

"Then I guess I should thank you mister…?"

The Doctor extended his hand.

"Doctor. Just the Doctor."

"What do you mean just…"

Della trailed off as her eyes went from the Doctor's outstretched hand to his face. She stared for a while before taking his hand.

"We meet again Doctor."

The Doctor smiled, "Indeed we do. Seems the roles have been reversed though."

Della snorted, "If the roles had been reversed mister, then you would have caught me before I fell. Didn't see you trying to help. In fact, you're the reason I fell in the first place!"

Donna guffawed and tried to cover it with a cough. The Doctor shot her a small glare over his shoulder before addressing Della again.

"What brings you to Cardiff?"

Della crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow.

"I could ask you the same thing."

She jerked a thumb in the direction of the Torchwood team.

"I take it you're here with the brute squad?"

The Doctor chuckled and nodded.

"Then can I ask why exactly you've all taken over the church? Believe me, there's nothing important here. And you're blocking what is normally an empty sidewalk. I nearly ran over one of your friends."

The Doctor grinned as he slipped his hand inside his coat pocket and pulled out the copy mobile.

"You forgot something at the library."

Della's eyes went wide as she took the phone.

"Oh my god… Thank you! I didn't even realize… Oh thank you so much!"

As she put the mobile in her pocket, she paused and looked up at the Doctor.

"How did you know it was mine? And how did you know where to find me?"

The Doctor reached into his coat pocket again and produced his mobile.

"Was looking up something and mistook mine for yours. Asked the librarian about it and she told us where to find you."

As the Doctor went on telling the story, Della stared, captivated, at the phone in his hand. She slowly reached out and brushed a finger over the screen.

"_You must never lose your mobile, alright? If you lose it, we can't find you."_

The Doctor stopped his ramble and stared at Della, concerned.

"You alright?"

He looked closely at her face.

"Della?"

Della stood completely still, hand suspended as she stared at the mobile.

"_If you ever get lost or separated from us, call us. If we don't answer, just keep your mobile on. Do you understand?"_

Della nodded slowly, "Yes. I understand."

Before the Doctor could ask what it was she understood, Della's body seized up in place. As her eyes rolled back in her head, she heard the Doctor calling her.

But was it the Doctor? The voice sounded different, and yet she knew it was the Doctor.

Wait, no, now it was a woman calling her. Was she calling her, or laughing at her? No, she was laughing _with_ her.

Were there two voices? She couldn't tell it was all so hard to hear.

And the pain, oh the pain. She couldn't hear anything but the pain. She vaguely thought it was strange that she could hear pain. But this four beat rhythm, yes she could definitely hear the pain.

And this warmth, how could she be this hot when her teeth were chattering? She couldn't tell how she felt anymore it was all so overwhelming.

Right before her mind faded to black, she found herself awake, flopping on the ground like a fish.

She could hear someone yelling; she should breathe?

Oh.

Breathing.

Right.

How did you do that again?

Her body apparently remembered how because she was then gasping and heaving while flopping. Her hearing must have gone back to normal; she could now hear the Doctor calling her back into lucidness. As her body calmed and adjusted to the conscious world, she only had one question for the Doctor.

"Who the hell _are_ you?"


	11. Relapsing

The Doctor merely chuckled in response to Della's question. He gently picked up her wrist to check her pulse, only to have the limb jerked from his grip. Startled, he pulled back slightly, seeing anger and defiance written on her face.

"What d'you think you're doing? Get your grimy hands off me!"

She started shuffling away from the Doctor as she sat up, only to swoon once again. The Doctor reached out and caught her, keeping his body back as much as possible so not to unnerve her any more than necessary. Her eyelids fluttered as she came back to herself.

Lowering her to a prone position, the Doctor murmured, "You had a seizure. You need to try and stay calm. Have you ever had a seizure before?"

Della's eyes snapped open, fear creeping into them.

"I had- What?"

The Doctor smiled in what he hoped was an assuring way, "I didn't think so. We need to get you to a hospital, get you checked out."

This time there was fear in Della's eyes as they swerved to pin the Doctor.

"No, please don't," she pleaded plaintively, "I'm fine, really. I promise to take it easy. No need for a hospital."

"You need to have someone check you," he chided gently, discreetly running the sonic over her.

She swatted his hand suddenly, starling him once again.

"Oi, quit bleeping me!" she yelled, glaring at him, "How many times do I have to tell you Spaceman, I'm fine!"

The Doctor's jaw dropped as he sat there, gobsmacked, hand hanging mid-scan.

"What did you say?" he whispered, mind desperately trying to explain what was happening.

"I said," replied Della, pushing herself up again, "that if you don't get that bloody sonic out of my face I'll slap you so hard you'll…"

The Doctor was ready this time when her eyes rolled back and body started to convulse. Reaching out, he quickly entered her mind and put a clamp on her body's reactions. Glad to have finished that, he began to carefully search her consciousness, trying to see where the cause of the seizures was. Finding a spot that felt off, he pushed gently, only to rip himself away as if burned. Shaking his head from the unexpected sensation, he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Doctor, what's going on?"

He turned his face up to Donna, giving her a tight smile before turning to address Jack.

"Can you get the car door?" he asked, gathering Della in his arms and standing.

Jack nodded and jogged to the first car. After waiting for the door, the Doctor carefully placed Della in the back seat, strapping her in.

"Owen," he called over his shoulder, "Do you have a CAT scanner at Torchwood?"

"Uh, yeah, but it's small. We'll have to fix it up if you want to scan her."

The Doctor nodded, turning to Donna. Giving her a smile he took her hand, "Come on, she needs to be checked."

Seeing her confusion, the Doctor leaned in, "I'll explain everything at the Hub."

Donna nodded slowly, squeezing his hand before she led them around to the other side of the car. The ride to the Hub was short but tense, with the Doctor keeping one hand on Della and the other firmly ensconced in Donna's.


	12. Scanning

Arriving at the Hub, the Doctor and Donna waited while the Torchwood team readied a bed for Della in the med bay. Once they were clear, the doctor carried Della through the lower entrance while Donna checked for prying eyes. Sitting her on the slab-turned-bed, the doctor placed a hand on her temple, checking that the mental clamp he had pressed in was still working.

Coming up next to him, arms crossed, Jack asked, "So Doc, you gonna tell us what's going on?"

"When I know everything I will. I need to run a few tests first," replied the Doctor as he headed to the small CAT scanner.

As he thought about what adjustments were needed, Tosh stepped over and the two began to take apart the machine while brainstorming ideas to boost the scanner. Owen slowly checked Della's vitals, and not finding anything wrong, moved to the closest computer to enter her information.

Ianto came up beside Jack and Donna, offering a cuppa to each. They took the tea gratefully, thankful for something to keep their hands occupied while they watched the work on the scanner progress.

After a while Jack wandered off, presumably, to his office. Donna pulled up a nearby chair and took the opportunity to take a better look at Della. She chuckled inwardly as the thought of beautiful children flittered through her mind. She had to admit Della was pretty, with a smattering of freckles over peach skin creating an endearingly youthful appearance. While her eyes were closed now, Donna knew that when they opened she would see the Doctor's eyes, those soulful brown orbs that seemed to pin her with their gaze. She noticed how ruffled Della's clothes were and attempted to straighten them. Seeing the black knit hat was still on her head, Donna removed it, anticipating its future removal for the scan.

As the hat was pulled off, a mop of wavy red hair settled.

"Of course she would be a ginger," Donna muttered, smiling, "Doctor wouldn't have it any other way."

She found that the natural waves of Della's hair created a stylish but messy look. Not unlike the Doctor's hair, she pondered with a grin.

"She had long hair when I met her."

Donna looked up to find the Doctor standing across from her, hands shoved in his pockets. He stared down at Della, his face stoic and emotions masked. Donna looked back down, thinking for the first time that the short hair made Della appear rather gangly.

"She's got your nose," Donna mused, combing her fingers carefully through the short locks, "And your eyes. Maybe even your ears."

She smiled up at the Doctor, trying to lighten the mood. To her relief, he gave a small smile before walking over to her. She watched him as he studied Della, knowing that there was something he was keeping from her.

"Doctor, is she…" Donna trailed off, not quite knowing how to word her question.

"She's our daughter," he answered stiffly, still studying Della intently.

Donna's mouth went slack before she composed herself. Of course she had guessed as much, she wasn't blind or stupid, but it was one thing to think of something as fact and another to have it proven. Her mind flittered to the small life growing within her, finding it a bit disorienting to have their child both in front of and inside her. Warmth filled her as she gazed at the sleeping girl, tangible proof that this life with the Doctor was real and wonderful. Something bothered her though, something… oh!

Donna leaned to him slightly, "She's not supposed to be here, is she? She's out of temporal sync, or something mumbo-jumbo like that, right?"

The Doctor nodded slowly, and Donna realized he was thinking of Jenni. A small pang of sorrow shot through her as she thought about the young blonde with so much energy and enthusiasm, and how she had been forced unexpectedly upon the Doctor. Donna laced her fingers in his and turned him to face her.

"This isn't like Jenni," she whispered, reaching up to cup his face.

He covered her hand with his own and stroked her knuckles as he stared at her.

"You don't know that," he replied coldly, "No one knows how this could turn out."

Donna brought her other hand up and turned him so she could look directly at him.

"This is not like Jenni," she said forcefully, "This is not some alien planet, there is no war here. This is not like Jenni."

He stared at her for a while before turning to Della. He slowly reached out a hand only to retract it as if he had been caught opening the cookie jar. Donna gently took his hand and stretched it out once again. The Doctor paused, and after reassuring smile from Donna ran a shaky finger through her hair.

"Doctor?"

He turned back to Donna, making a small noise of inquisition.

"What's causing the seizures?" Donna paused, then frowned, "More importantly, why didn't she recognize us?"

The Doctor nodded towards the scanner, "We'll know shortly, I can't tell exactly what's going on until I see what damage is there."

Before Donna could question him further, Tosh turned from the scanner and nodded. The Doctor hurried over, and together they positioned the makeshift machine around Della. Donna backed up to give them some room and made her way around to the receiving computer. After a while Tosh joined her and keyed in the startup sequence.

The three watched as the machine went to work.

Tosh looked up from the screen, "First scans are coming up."

The Doctor came over as the two women made room for him in front of the main screen. Donna wasn't a doctor, nor did she know exactly what a brain was supposed to look like scanned, but even she could tell that something was wrong with what she was seeing. What she had always assumed would be a rather smooth looking blob of grey was coming out looking remarkably like spaghetti and popcorn. A low curse from the Doctor confirmed her suspicions. Still studying the incoming scans, he reached in his pocket and fished out his mobile.

"Call Martha," he said, handing the phone to Donna, "Tell her we're going to need another pair of hands."

Donna nodded and started the call, wondering just how bad things were for the sleeping girl on the table.


	13. Preparing

As the Doctor flipped through the scans, he listened with some amusement to Donna talking to Martha. If the conversation on this end was anything to go by, Donna's newfound cure from the metacrisis was taking a while to explain. He felt bad for springing the news to Martha like this, but he had forgotten that she didn't know of the new adjustments in his life. With Donna back, it didn't seem like there had been a gap between memory loss and memory gain. They had just picked up where they had left off, with a few more benefits this time around.

He turned from the screen when he heard the mobile snap shut and Donna huff. He tilted his head, question in his eyes.

"You know Spaceman, you could have told me Martha didn't know about your little rescue mission," Donna stated with a small glare, the smile curling on the edges of her lips belying her amusement.

The Doctor simply grinned and shrugged, "It didn't cross my mind. There were a few more important things to do."

Donna raised a brow and feigned ignorance, "Oh? Really? Like what?"

The Doctor ambled slowly from the screen, "Oh, well I had to begin the said rescue mission, see if it would actually work, try to convince the soon-to-be-rescued to actually listen to me, go to Torchwood, help Torchwood, investigate supernatural phenomena…"

He stopped in front of Donna with a smile, wrapping his arms around her, "And of course the most important thing…"

Donna said nothing, but tilted her head with a quirk of her mouth.

The Doctor brought their foreheads together, "I had to tell you I love you."

He leaned in, but did not press his lips to hers. She looked up at him through her lashes and gave him a shy smile.

He reached up and stoked her cheek reverently, "I do love you Donna, so much."

He then pressed his lips to hers, pulling her in to the kiss. She ardently kissed him back, losing herself in the simple moment between them.

A slight clearing of a throat brought the couple back to reality. Tosh waited patiently as they broke apart before addressing the Doctor.

"Do you need me to get Owen for you? He's down in the vaults."

The Doctor nodded, "Yeah, that would be great. We should be getting another visitor, Dr. Martha Jones?"

Tosh smiled, "Oh yes, Martha. Jack's talked about her before. I'll tell him we're expecting her."

The Doctor waved her off, "No, it's fine, I can tell him. But could you get Owen up here? I'd like to start as soon as Martha arrives."

Tosh nodded and headed to the stairs. The Doctor turned to Donna to ask about Jack's whereabouts, but was saved the question by Jack's appearance next to Della.

"So what's the prognosis Doc?" he asked, studying the young girl for a moment.

The Doctor shook his head, "Not good. I called Martha to help us. She should be here in a while."

Jack glanced at the screen, then did a double take.

"Shit, are those her scans?"

He flipped through them, muttering a low, "Jesus Christ."

The Doctor chuckled hollowly, "You have no idea."

"Hey, you called?"

The small group turned to find Owen ascending from the vaults.

"Yeah," replied the Doctor, arranging various devices on the small instrument table flanking the makeshift bed, "help me set up."

As Owen assisted, Jack and Donna moved back to let the two doctors work. Off went the CAT scan, off went the roller blades, and off went any jewelry. Donna helped for a moment when the Doctor tried to remove Della's earrings. Sensing his uneasiness, she checked for a necklace. Finding a chain, she eased it from under Della's shirt and worked the clasp open. As she pulled it up and away from her, a small ring flitted and twisted in the light. She examined it for a moment, coming to the conclusion it must have been Della's as a child, for the sizing was much too small for her fingers now. It was a pretty little thing, polished silver with a braided pattern pressed into it. After handing it to the Doctor, she then checked for bracelets, anklets, and other piercings.

"What's with the jewelry, Doctor?"

He looked up from the growing pile of jewelry to glance at Jack, "Just precautionary. Don't want her to get hurt if she seizes again."

He watched as Donna pulled away an anklet and dropped it into his hands before turning back to Jack, "It's also so if her body temperature rises or falls, that the metal won't burn or freeze her."

At Jack's incredulous look, the Doctor continued, "She's part Gallifreyan and part human, two species that have major differences in body temperature. These seizures are part of a bigger problem, which may or may not make her body cycle through unnaturally extreme fevers and chills when I try to fix it. If we remove her jewelry, then nothing can react to the changes. The CAT scan showed me enough to fix most of the damage, but she may also need a MRI after the initial adjustments, in which case we would also need to remove her jewelry."

He leaned back on a table, "Now we just have to wait for Martha."

It took all of ten minutes from the Doctor's statement for Martha to arrive, Mickey in tow.

"Should I even ask how fast you drove to get here?"

Martha smiled at the Doctor, while Mickey shook his head.

"No mate," replied Mickey, "You really don't want to know. I think our car broke the sound barrier there for a moment."

Martha simply rolled her eyes as she went to greet the Doctor, "We were already on the outskirts of Cardiff when you called."

She hugged him, breaking away only to hug Donna.

"It's good to see you," she said with sincerity, pulling away.

Donna grinned, "It's good to be here."

Jack stepped forward with a smile, "Let me introduce you to my team. Owen, Martha. Martha, Owen."

Owen shuffled forward, hand outstretched, "Nice to meet you."

Martha shook his hand, "Likewise. I'm told you're a doctor as well?"

He shrugged, "Yeah, but it's gotten to be more of a medic now. If I'm not doing an autopsy, I'm patching one of us up."

She nodded in understanding just as Ianto and Gwen walked up.

"Hello, you must be Martha," said Gwen, reaching out to shake Martha's hand, "I'm Gwen. This is Ianto, and Tosh is just coming up behind you."

Martha smiled and turned to shake Tosh and Ianto's hands as well. She walked over to where Mickey was greeting the Doctor.

Placing a hand on his arm, she turned to the Torchwood team, "This is Mickey, my UNIT partner."

"And fiancée," Mickey added with a grin, wrapping an arm around Martha's waist.

Silent shock descended on the Hub, only broken by a crow of victory from Donna.

"I knew it! I knew it! You owe me Spaceman! Oh, this is brilliant!"

The resulting laugh from Jack broke the awkward moment, and the Torchwood members gave their well wishes and congratulations to the couple. Martha and Mickey watched with amusement as the Doctor tried to convince Donna that the bet wasn't valid and he didn't have to "pay up" as she insisted.

"Give it up mate," Mickey called out, "You ain't gonna win with that one."

Donna smirked, "You got a smart one there, Martha."

Martha giggled softly as Mickey grinned. She glanced around the room, settling on Della. Breaking off from Mickey, she walked over and took a look at the scans.

The Doctor shoved his hands in his pockets, "It's not as bad as it looks."

Martha shot him a look over the screen.

He rubbed the back of his head, "Well, it's not as hard to fix as it looks. Really."

He joined her at the screen and pointed to one of the scans, "This lobe can be reformed with just a couple of tweaks, and then we can reconnect it to this structure. If we work on that, then this portion will start adjusting and we can jump start it through the healing process."

"Sounds like you don't need any help," Martha muttered, flipping through the scans.

"I actually don't," replied the Doctor, "At least not with the procedure itself. I called you to help monitor."

"Couldn't Owen do that? Or, if you really needed two people, couldn't Jack do it? Or someone else that's already here?"

The Doctor shook his head, "No one else knows as much about Gallifreyan physiology as you. I need Owen to monitor Della, and for you to monitor me."

Martha looked taken aback, "This is serious Doctor. I know a little, yes, but not nearly enough to help if something goes wrong. Are you sure you really want to do this?"

The Doctor smiled and pulled a small earbud out of his pocket, "This is a link to the TARDIS's med bay. She'll help you if you need it."

Martha took the small device with some trepidation, but fitted it in her ear.

"And Martha?"

She looked up at the Doctor, "Yes?"

He gave a sheepish grin, "I might have asked you to come here for another reason."

"What for?"

Donna grinned at the Doctor and called from the other side of the Hub, "How well do you know your way around a sonogram, Martha?"

Martha looked at her, surprised, "Well enough. I did a turn in Obstetrics during med school. But why would I need…"

Her eyes grew wide as her jaw dropped, "You mean… That's how… Donna Catherine Noble!"

Donna flinched, "Oh god Martha, don't call me that. You sound like my mum."

Martha turned and hit the Doctor with a glare, "You didn't mention that when you called!"

The Doctor chuckled weakly, "Was a bit preoccupied Martha. And what was I supposed to say? 'Hello Martha, lovely to talk to you again. How's London? By the way, I saved Donna from the metacrisis. Oh, and she's pregnant because of it. What are your plans for this weekend?' I'm sure that would have gone over well."

He moved to the head of the bed and addressed Martha and Owen, "Well, allons-y then! Let's get started. We've got quite a bit to do."

Owen raised a hand and stepped forward, "Just a question, what exactly are you going to do? Obviously not surgery, but I don't see anything that can fix the damage she had."

The Doctor tapped the side of his head, "Telepathy. I can connect with her mind and alter the pathways of her brain to repair the damage. The reason I need you to monitor her is that the portions of the brain I'll be working with are extremely sensitive. I'll try my hardest to keep her physical reactions to a minimum, but I can only focus on so many things at once. And to be honest, I don't know what to expect her to react to."

"You mean you're going in blind?"

The Doctor shrugged, "I don't have much of a choice. Her seizures indicate a degeneration of the neural pathways, which will only get worse the longer she goes without treatment. If she was completely human or completely Gallifreyan this would only take an hour or two at most, but she's got structures in her brain that I've never seen before. What fixing I can do won't cover her whole mind, only those parts that I can safely fix without worrying about altering the original layout."

Martha looked over the instruments laid out, "How long do you expect this to take?"

The Doctor thought about it for a moment, "Maybe three hours. Possibly more. When I start the alterations, I'll have a better estimate."

He reached over and picked up the electrodes for the heart monitor. Gently turning Della's limbs, he placed one on each arm, close to the wrist, and one on each leg down by the ankle. Once he was finished, Martha began attaching an EEG to Della. The Doctor walked over to Donna, who had backed away from the med bay to give the three doctors more room. He smiled and reached out his hand to her. She took it, only to be pulled into a loose embrace.

"Donna," he whispered, leaning close to her ear, "Will you be alright?"

Donna chuckled, but when he pulled back to look at her she busied herself in looking anywhere but him.

He lifted her chin lightly, "Donna, look at me."

She turned her face up to him, trying to smile out the slight fear she felt.

"I'll be fine Spaceman," she boasted, her voice only wavering slightly, "I think it should be you we're more worried about. I'm not the one going into someone's brain and trying to fix it!"

The Doctor's face softened and her gave her a warm smile.

"Oh Donna," he whispered, pulling her in tightly, "My brave little Earthgirl. I'll be fine. I promise I won't do anything other than the procedure. No messing around, no exploring, just get in, get out."

Donna gave a small bark of a laugh, "I don't know why I'm so worried. You've probably done this hundreds of time, this won't be any different."

She gave him a small push, "Go on; get started. Like you said, she needs this as soon as possible."

He pulled away, but gave her a skeptical look.

"I'm fine," she insisted, flapping at him to move, "I'll watch with Jack from the balcony. Now go on!"

He gave her a goofy grin and bounded back over to the med bay. She rolled her eyes with a smile and headed for the balcony. In the med bay Owen began attaching electrodes to the Doctor for his heart monitor while Martha began to gather another EEG.

"You don't need that for me," he said, straightening the wires running from his arms, "The TARDIS feed will verbally tell you if something is wrong and then send the scans to one of the monitors."

Martha nodded and took her place next to the Doctor's heart monitor. Owen took his place next to Della's while the Doctor moved to stand at the head of the table. He reached out, placed his fingertips on Della's temples, and slowly closed his eyes.


	14. Coping

Nearly five hours had passed, and Donna was beginning to get worried. She and Jack had taken up vigil on the upper floor overlooking the med bay. The Doctor hadn't moved or spoken yet, but there hadn't been any dangerous readings on the monitors. Owen had laid some cold compresses on Della at one point, but nothing else had needed to be done.

"How you holding up?"

Donna glanced over at Jack, expecting to see a smirk planted on his face. Surprisingly, Jack seemed sincere in his questioning.

She blew out a small breath, "I'm fine. I'm not the one doing the medical stuff."

Jack chuckled slightly, resting his arms on the railing, "True. But I asked how you were holding up."

Donna rolled her eyes, "And I said I was fine. Are you going deaf, Jack?"

She pressed her lips tightly together and returned to her silent, but concentrated observation of the med bay.

"Don't forget to breathe, Donna," Jack murmured and she glanced at him sharply, ready to scold him for fussing over her again, but he was studiously avoiding her eyes. She turned back to watch the Doctor as he trembled with the effort of fixing the young girl's mind. Her grip on the handrail turned her knuckles white and when she felt Jack put his hand very gently on her shoulder she didn't say a word.

Jack leaned in close to her, "Donna, I know you hold your feelings nearly as tightly as the Doctor does. Fortunately for me, you're much more reasonable than he is. So I ask you again: How are you holding up?"

Donna thought for a moment, and could tell from his silence that Jack expected her to avoid the subject. Any other time and they would be skipping to a different topic, but something in Jack's voice made her pause. As much as the Doctor complained about Jack's actions, Donna knew that he trusted Jack wholeheartedly to keep her safe, even if that meant becoming a confidante. Comforted slightly by this knowledge, she took a deep breath and angled toward Jack slightly.

"I'm mostly okay," she tentatively admitted, glancing nervously down at the med bay, "I'm just a little overwhelmed by it all. Between the seizures and the timeline displacement, this whole thing doesn't feel right to me. It's like I can feel the temporal shift around Della, like I can almost see the pucker in the timeline."

She looked up at Jack, "But I shouldn't be able to. I lost the DoctorDonna when the Doctor saved me."

Jack grinned, "Maybe. But if that kid growing in you is anything like their parents, something tells me that finding a way to bring that back without harm is well within it's capabilities."

Donna chuckled lightly, "Maybe. I think I'm just worried about this procedure. The Doctor didn't really go into detail about what he would be doing. And he said nothing about it taking five hours!"

Jack squeezed her shoulder gently, "He'll be fine. If anyone can pull this off, it's the Doctor. And as I'm sure you know, he doesn't always do a very good job of explaining his plans to anyone."

Donna nodded absently, suddenly interested in the med bay. She felt Jack move to look over her shoulder, but ignored him to watch the Doctor. The slight shaking that had characterized this whole procedure was gone, replaced by a sudden stillness. Something wasn't right, and she could feel it. She closed her eyes for a moment, on a whim trying to see if there was something she could hear or sense telepathically, but she found nothing. Suddenly Owen and Martha were muttering to each other, clanging instruments around. Her eyes snapped open and she focused on the med bay, only to see the Doctor no longer still but in a full body tremor. Instinct propelled Donna towards the stairs, intent on getting to the Doctor. Her body jerked back as Jack wrapped his hands around her shoulders, drawing her away from the stairs.

"Jack," she cried, surprised at his restraint. He simply held her in place.

"Jack."

This time Donna laced the plea with an undertone of a threat, one she knew Jack would hear. When he didn't move to let her go, she gave up all pretense and tried to struggle her way out of his grasp.

"Jack! Let me go! He needs me!"

Jack shook his head and tightened his grip to keep a hold on her, "You need to let him finish, Donna."

Below them the Doctor's audible cry reached their ears, pinning Donna to the spot. She glanced between Jack and the med bay, torn between what she knew the Doctor needed and what she so desperately wanted to do. Another cry, louder than the first, floated up and for a moment Donna gave up fighting and let Jack take her in his arms. He held her carefully as she rested her head on his chest, drawing strength. Determined to not lose it right then and there, she straightened and turned from him with a quick toss of her hair over her shoulder as if her moment of weakness had never happened.

"There's the Donna I know," she head him murmur, pride lacing his words.

She didn't respond, her attention back on the med bay. Jack moved to stand next to her at the rail, both of them watching as Martha and Owen continued checking the monitors, Martha pressing her earbud in to check for any communication from the TARDIS. The Doctor continued to tremble, but the monitors mysteriously showed no change in heart rate. Suddenly he was pulling away from Della, panting for breath, falling into the arms of Martha and Owen.

Jack smiled and turned to Donna to give her a nudge to head down, but instead got a flash of red as she ran down to the med bay. As he watched her throw her arms around the Doctor, pulling him into a tight hug, Jack decided to let them be for a while. Grinning widely, he headed to his office, hoping to catch Ianto on the way there.

"Air, Donna! Air!"

"Shut up you prawn. Respiratory bypass."

The Doctor smiled as he pressed his face into Donna's hair. Rassilon, but he was knackered.

"How long was I out?" he whispered, stroking her hair lightly.

"Nearly five hours," she murmured, not even trying to hide the blatant nuzzling of his neck. She froze and pulled back.

"Don't. You. Ever. Do. That. Again!" she hissed, punctuating each word with a slight tug to the Doctor's arm. He tried to laugh at the statement, but the sight of Donna's trembling lower lip brought him up short.

"Oh Donna…"

He didn't know what to say, lost to reassure her of his safety.

"I wouldn't have taken so long if Della hadn't caught me on the way out," he stated softly, stroking her cheek reverently. She leaned into the touch, reaching out to pull him back to her. The Doctor held her, letting his presence soothe her jangled nerves.

"Donna," he whispered after a moment, "How about we call it a night? Everything can wait until tomorrow."

She nodded mutely, and the Doctor tightened his grip around her waist, leading her towards the Hub doors. He locked eyes with Jack briefly, nodding at him. Jack nodded back and herded the Torchwood team back to their stations. Once they made it through the Hub doors, the walk to the TARDIS was rather silent, permeated only by the sounds of Cardiff at night. The Doctor kept his arm around Donna, guiding them slowly back to the TARDIS. Donna in turn clung to the Doctor as they walked, trying to stay as close as possible. After the last five hours, she didn't want to have him leave her sight. It was at the TARDIS door, when he fumbled with the key, having to hold it with both hands to steady it, that Donna noticed how truly exhausted the Doctor was. When they had made it inside, before he could get caught up in tinkering at the console, she led them down the corridor and into his room. Although, she thought as she opened the door and entered, it was their room now, wasn't it?

"Donna."

The Doctor's voice seemed to echo in the relative silence of the TARDIS as she turned to find him in the doorway, leaning on the frame for support. She reached out a hand to him, sinking to sit on the edge of the bed. He regarded her for a moment before crossing the room slowly, his strides belying his lack of energy. Kneeling before her, he took both her hands in his. Sliding her eyes shut as she gripped his hands, Donna leaned forward and pressed their foreheads together.

"Five hours and you never moved."

The Doctor stayed silent, knowing Donna needed to get everything out before she convinced herself otherwise.

"Five hours with nothing to do but think."

Donna locked eyes with him, "Five hours of me worrying for the both of you."

She reached out and laid a hand on his cheek, "Five hours of not knowing if things were ok, not knowing if everything was working."

Her hand dropped back into her lap, searching before grasping his hand tightly once more.

"Five hours I don't ever want to go through again."

The Doctor raised their intertwined hands to rest over his hearts. Breaking off his grip, he tenderly cradled Donna's face, thumbs smoothing circles over her cheekbones.

"It'll take a lot more than that to keep me from coming back to you, Donna."

He rose up on his knees and pulled her down gently into a kiss, feeling her hands fist the material at his chest. He tangled his fingers in her hair, pulling her more tightly to him. Donna slid her hands from his chest to his face, mirroring his former gesture. After a moment they pulled away slowly, still clinging to each other.

"I don't know why I'm so scared," whispered Donna, eyes wide in the dim light, "We've faced worse before. It's just with everything coming back so quickly, and Della, and all of it I'm just feeling…"

"Overwhelmed?"

Donna nodded shyly, blushing at her little outburst, "I'm being daft, aren't I? Mental ole' Donna, getting all emotional over nothing."

The Doctor shook his head quickly, "You're not being daft, Donna! You're being human, being normal. More importantly, you're still adjusting to being pregnant."

He stood and sat next to her on the bed, taking her hands in his once again.

"I'm sorry for pushing you so hard to come to Torchwood in the first place. I'd forgotten how suddenly everything has happened. It's not fair to expect you to just plough on when you haven't even really had a week to get used to all of this. You have every right to feel a little emotional Donna, no one's going to judge you for it."

Donna opened her mouth to argue, only to have her words cut off by a yawn.

When she was finished, the Doctor smiled and tugged at her hands, "Let's go to bed. There isn't anything that can't wait 'til tomorrow."

She nodded, knowing that at this point she didn't have the strength to argue with him.

"Let me grab a nightgown," she murmured, standing and heading towards the door.

As she approached the doorway, the door slowly snapped shut. She paused, confused and a little frightened as to what closed the door. A small, self-satisfied hum in her mind tipped her off to the identity of the unseen doorman. Sending a questioning look up towards the TARDIS, she reached out, turned the knob, and tentatively pulled the door open. As she peered through the doorway, the Doctor came up and wrapped his arms around her.

"I hope you don't mind," he said with some amusement, "But I asked the TARDIS to keep your closet in whatever bedroom you're in. Just thought it would be easier than running to two different rooms."

Donna laughed as she looked over the space that should have been the hallway, but was indeed her closet. Grabbing an old, oversized shirt, she quickly turned in the Doctor's embrace and gave him a light kiss.

"Just need to change," she said, motioning to the bathroom as she slipped from his arms.

The Doctor nodded and closed the "closet" door before heading over to pick up his pajama bottoms from the floor. Stripping, he slipped them on before searching for the matching top. He was elbow deep in a pile of clothing in the corner when he heard Donna come in from the bathroom.

"Have you seen my pajama top?" he called, digging deeper into the mountain of clothing he hadn't worn in years.

"The blue striped one?" Donna answered lightly, "No. I wonder where it is."

The Doctor straightened and scratched his head, "I wore it last night; I don't know where it could have gone."

He turned in Donna's direction, scanning the floor as he went, "I thought I tossed it here this morning but it's not…"

"Doctor?"

"Hmmm?" he asked as he checked under the bed covers, flipping the layers of sheets back one by one.

"I think I might have found it."

The Doctor popped his head up quickly, "Really? Brilliant! Where was it? I checked… places… you… guh…"

Donna smirked as he gaped at her, drawing a finger lightly over the collar of the formerly missing top she was now wearing.

"Yes Doctor?" she purred, leaning against the doorframe.

As the Doctor slowly stood upright, she pushed off from the doorway and sashayed over to the bed. Pausing next to her side of the mattress, she smiled cheekily at him, fingers brushing the hem of the top that barely hit mid-thigh. She had to stifle giggles as the Doctor scrambled to crawl over the bed to kneel in front of her on the mattress, eyes wide with unabashed adoration. Her laughter trailed off as the Doctor continued to stare, so intent on just looking at her that Donna thought she would surely burn under his gaze.

Reaching out a hand to lightly trail over her hair and face, the Doctor sighed at the soft textures and breathed out, "Vrayda'Eupaet."

Donna didn't understand the word, though she assumed it was Gallifreyan, but she still shivered at the reverence with which the Doctor spoke.

"What does that mean?" she asked softly, reaching up to cover the hand that had moved to cradle her face.

"A lady of beauty," the Doctor whispered with a smile, "It was very high praise in the common language. And certainly an appropriate description for you."

Donna blushed bright red and turned away shyly, only daring to glance at the Doctor through lowered lashes with a small smile.

"High praise in the common language, eh?" she teased lightly, still blushing, "What about the uncommon language? Hmmm?"

The Doctor beamed, dropping his hands to frame her hips, "Oh that could take a while to say. High Gallifreyan was a long and drawn out affair to speak. Most people just used Lower or Middle in day to day conversations."

Donna ran a hand gently through his hair as she mused. The Doctor's eyes fluttered as he sighed at the sensation of Donna's fingers running designs over his scalp.

"Tell me about Gallifrey," she whispered suddenly, "Please."

She watched as the Doctor's eyes opened and dulled for a moment, his focus sliding in and out as he painfully remembered his home and his people. Realizing the anguish she had brought up to the surface, she opened her mouth to apologize and retract her request when he spoke.

"It was beautiful," he started softly, staring at her intently, "With trees that had silver leaves and grass as red as blood. There… there were two suns that created the most fantastic sunrises and sunsets…."

He paused, clearly struggling to find the words to speak of his long-lost planet. He looked up to Donna, finding a soft smile on her face that was meant to reassure. Noticing the deep circles around her eyes and realizing how long they had both been on their feet during the day, he scooted back to rest against the headboard and gestured for her to join him. She crawled up, snuggling under his arm, draping her own over his stomach.

Once she was comfortable, he continued, stumbling at places, "We lived in a ravine – well, more of a valley… The city was underneath two mountains – Solace and Solitude… Um, the family… The family house was outside the city, on a hill overlooking a river… My father taught me how to swim in that river…"

Donna continued to listen as he spoke longingly of the city and its towering spires, of the years of growing up in the countryside, and of his experiences at the Academy. She let his voice wash over her and allowed herself to drift off, imagining silver leaves, young boys running across red fields, and a mighty, sparkling city surrounded by glass. It took a while for her to notice that the Doctor had stopped talking. She looked up to find him staring at her once again.

"Have I got something on my face? Must be, there ain't much to look at otherwise," she joked with a smile, wondering what was causing him to stare at her so.

She squawked and flailed as the Doctor suddenly crushed their lips together, tipping her over to lie underneath him. He broke off suddenly, his eyes dark and shining as he panted above her.

"I don't know who ever said you were anything but beautiful," he whispered harshly, clutching her hands possessively, "But they were wrong, so wrong. You are Vrayda'Eupaet and so much more. Don't you dare think otherwise."

Donna lay there, slightly shocked at the sudden declaration and possessiveness coming from the man above her. She had never had a man so utterly protective of her before. It was kind of wonderful.

While she marveled, the Doctor pressed their lips together again, twining his fingers in her hair to pull her closer. Luxuriating in the passion of his kiss, she looped her arms around his neck, her nails raking lightly across his scalp. Breaking off when her need for air overshadowed their need for anything else, Donna smiled contently as the Doctor nuzzled her neck, nudging the collar of his shirt over to reveal more skin for him to explore.

She pulled him up to face her, grinning impishly as she asked, "So Doctor, do you like my new nightgown?"

The Doctor gave her a roguish grin in return, the predatory look in his eyes sending a shiver down her spine.

"Oh yes," he replied roughly, reaching down to smooth a hand just under the hem of the nightshirt.

Donna slipped her eyes shut and had to stifle a moan as his hand continued upward, caressing the side of her thigh and hip.

He leaned down, his lips ghosting over her ear, "Would you like me to show you how much?"

Donna opened her eyes and answered breathlessly, "I thought you'd never ask."

He growled deep in his chest and she giggled as he pulled her up and over to straddle him. As he kissed her again, she thought that perhaps she should steal and wear his clothes more often if this was the response she got. But once he started unbuttoning the pajama top, she didn't think of much else for the rest of the night.


End file.
